HP-1000 Driver Durability/Tolerance
- Thread starter Amarphael
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devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
Compliance / diaphragm was discussed here in 1991: http://www.stereophile.com/content/grado-hp-1-headphones#Bxvg28duudS63Aih.97
Which I'm quoting (Gary A. Galo):
“[highs]
Each earpiece of the HP 1s contains a small dome-shaped diaphragm approximately 5/8" in diameter. The diaphragm is made of a low-mass plastic with high internal damping in an attempt to control high-frequency resonances which often lend an artificially bright tonal balance to headphones. Joe wasn't interested in extending the high-frequency bandwidth to daylight or beyond. The diaphragm was designed to offer rigidity, and consequently low distortion, within the audible bandwidth, and at high volume levels.
[lows]
The voice-coil is attached to the perimeter of the diaphragm, in a manner similar to a dome tweeter. Surrounding the voice-coil is the suspension, which is made of the same material as the diaphragm. The suspension is approximately 5/16" wide, larger than on many headphones, but allowing sufficient compliance for accurate low-frequency reproduction. The suspension is said to radiate some energy at low frequencies. Special attention has been paid to the wire in the voice-coil, using slow drawing and annealing to produce a wire with an extremely smooth surface.”
“The rear of each diaphragm doesn't radiate completely freely, however. It is resistively damped in order to equalize pressure on both sides of the diaphragm when the headphones are in use.”
It is also reactively damped, unlike all other headphone drivers...
(not my hands or photos)
Which information* I later turned into:
Green was a tentative on the compliant “suspension” thing; hypothesis was defeated when above user successfully took off and put back in “black piston / rear diffuser” without causing any permanent damage the sound quality therefore production mechanism
Pink represents the rigid yet elastic motion of the diaphragm
Light grey membrane is what I associate with Gary's “resistive damping”, found on all dynamic drivers.
*My study actually began with only this (rather misinterpreted) image:
“Living hinge*”
That mysterious layer is the green ring sandwiched inside what I initially thought was the voice coil, which is impossible, when you think about it, as it would impede any diaphragm movement...
The radiating creased “Darkstar” dome is made dark from the black piston behind it, it's a “translucentStar” otherwise, and is responsible for this driver's startlingly gentle highs.
The real magic of this driver though, lies in its the “reactive” rear-diffusing suspension mechanism. A member who tried and failed to kill a HP 1000 driver (on what had melted down a SR80's) clearly noticed the black piston vibrating up and down, performing its diaphragm-saving bass offloading. The member commented it was playing super loud and relatively undistorted.
Which I'm quoting (Gary A. Galo):
“[highs]
Each earpiece of the HP 1s contains a small dome-shaped diaphragm approximately 5/8" in diameter. The diaphragm is made of a low-mass plastic with high internal damping in an attempt to control high-frequency resonances which often lend an artificially bright tonal balance to headphones. Joe wasn't interested in extending the high-frequency bandwidth to daylight or beyond. The diaphragm was designed to offer rigidity, and consequently low distortion, within the audible bandwidth, and at high volume levels.
[lows]
The voice-coil is attached to the perimeter of the diaphragm, in a manner similar to a dome tweeter. Surrounding the voice-coil is the suspension, which is made of the same material as the diaphragm. The suspension is approximately 5/16" wide, larger than on many headphones, but allowing sufficient compliance for accurate low-frequency reproduction. The suspension is said to radiate some energy at low frequencies. Special attention has been paid to the wire in the voice-coil, using slow drawing and annealing to produce a wire with an extremely smooth surface.”
“The rear of each diaphragm doesn't radiate completely freely, however. It is resistively damped in order to equalize pressure on both sides of the diaphragm when the headphones are in use.”
It is also reactively damped, unlike all other headphone drivers...
(not my hands or photos)
Which information* I later turned into:
Green was a tentative on the compliant “suspension” thing; hypothesis was defeated when above user successfully took off and put back in “black piston / rear diffuser” without causing any permanent damage the sound quality therefore production mechanism
Pink represents the rigid yet elastic motion of the diaphragm
Light grey membrane is what I associate with Gary's “resistive damping”, found on all dynamic drivers.
*My study actually began with only this (rather misinterpreted) image:
“Living hinge*”
That mysterious layer is the green ring sandwiched inside what I initially thought was the voice coil, which is impossible, when you think about it, as it would impede any diaphragm movement...
The radiating creased “Darkstar” dome is made dark from the black piston behind it, it's a “translucentStar” otherwise, and is responsible for this driver's startlingly gentle highs.
The real magic of this driver though, lies in its the “reactive” rear-diffusing suspension mechanism. A member who tried and failed to kill a HP 1000 driver (on what had melted down a SR80's) clearly noticed the black piston vibrating up and down, performing its diaphragm-saving bass offloading. The member commented it was playing super loud and relatively undistorted.
Beagle
His body's not a canvas, and he wasn't raised by apes.
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Thanks so much for that! Very interesting and useful info
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